Page:The Harveian oration 1888.djvu/29

 21

up of certain cyan-alcohols united to a benzene nucleus — or in other words by combining hydrocyanic acid with a compound belonging to the benzene group and with the five aldehydes — methylic, ethylic, propionic, butyric and valeric — a compound would be formed having the same ultimate composition as albumen; and also that a considerable number of the substances such as glycocoll, lactic acid, leucine &c. which are obtained from albuminous substances, could be prepared in the laboratory artificially from these cyan-alcohols. Assuming such a constitution for albumen, I indicated how, if the force, vital or other, which holds to- gether these molecules forming living tissue, were modified or lessened, so that the molecules instead of undergoing the normal changes fall asunder and are partially oxidised, such substances would be produced as glucose fi'om methylic cyan-alcohol, lactic acid and para-aldehyde from the next in the series, and oxybutyric acid and acetone from a third. I refer to this here, because the same assumption as to the constitution of albuminous material helps to explain the origin and formation of Brieger's ptomaines.

From the lowest cyan-alcohol in the series CH^ l p„ glycocoll

CH„ ^^^^TT should be obtained, which under certain conditions

splits up into carbonic acid and methylamine NH2(CH3). This methylamine may under certain circumstances form dimethylamine NH(CH3)2 and trimethylamine N(0H3)3, the two substances into which neuridin (the alkaloid which is the first to be sepai*ated from putrefying meat) can be decomposed. The following equation then would represent the origin of neuridin : —

5CH,(NHJC00H = C,H,^N, + 5C0, + 3NH3 + H, glycocoll neuridin.